May 21st, 2013 at 12:26 PM
By Wayne Staich
The Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith will surely go down as one of the greatest shortstops ever to play the game. If you never saw him play, you missed something special. If you've never seen this particular play–"The Bare-Handed Beauty"–you owe it to yourself to witness a piece of history. Many call it the greatest infield play they have ever seen.
The video is a segment of the classic "This Week in Baseball" TV show, remember that one? The play happened in 1978, Ozzie's rookie season with the San Diego Padres. Those Padre uniforms have to be among the most horrific ever donned by a Major League team. 1978 was actually the Padres' first winning season–with no help from the unis.
Smith played a total of 19 seasons, the first four (1978-81) with the Padres, the remainder with the St. Louis Cardinals. A lifetime .262 hitter, he is remembered more for his defensive prowess than his hitting. His career average as a Padre is just .231, and never higher than the .258 mark of his rookie season.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 15th, 2013 at 5:04 PM
By Wayne Staich
Baltimore's Camden Yards proved to be plenty comfortable for the San Diego Padres–too bad they won't be playing there again for a very long time. San Diego unleashed a 17-hit attack Wednesday afternoon to hand Jason Marquis his fifth win of the season, and the Padres finished off a sweep of the two-game set with the Baltimore Orioles in front of 32,418, 8-4.
Who could have seen it coming? The Friars came into the series riding a three-game losing streak, having just been swept by Tampa Bay, and were a dismal 6-13 on the road. Somehow, despite numbers greatly stacked in Baltimore's favor, they brought their A-game to the Yards. You heard it here first.
The 17 hits matched a season-high. Everth Cabrera led the way with four, while Jedd Gyorko and Alexi Amarista slapped three each. Amarista pounded out two doubles and his third home run, a two-run shot. Kyle Blanks also went deep, blasting his second, a solo shot.
Catcher John Baker knocked in two with a single in the second inning, his first two RBI's of the season, and first hit since April 7.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 15th, 2013 at 8:00 AM
By Wayne Staich
Now that's the way to break a losing streak. Down to their last out, the San Diego Padres pulled out their rally bats and tallied two runs against one of the best closers in the game Tuesday night at Camden Yards, emerging with a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles in front of 19,096. Goodbye three-game losing streak, hello first ninth-inning comeback win of the season.
This wasn't just any ninth-inning comeback–this was a ninth-inning comeback against Jim Johnson. The Jim Johnson who entered the game a perfect 14-for 14 in save opportunities this season, with an 0.95 ERA. The guy who held a team record 35 consecutive converted saves. The same Jim Johnson who led the American League with 51 saves last season, in 54 opportunities. That Jim Johnson.
With the tying run on third, two outs, and trailing 2-1 in the top of the ninth, the Padres produced a level of "clutchness" that we don't normally see from them–a level that requires a new word to describe it. Chris Denorfia steps up and lines a single through the box to tie it up. Johnson hit Nick Hundley to put the winning run at second.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 14th, 2013 at 8:00 AM
By Wayne Staich
The San Diego Padres take their three-game losing streak into Camden Yards for a cup of coffee with the Baltimore Orioles, with game one on Tuesday. The mini, two-game set marks only the second time ever the Padres have visited Baltimore; they lost two of three in their first visit in 2002, and are 4-5 all-time versus the Orioles.
The O's are the first of three consecutive 2012 playoff teams on the Padres' schedule. Returning home from Baltimore, they take on the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park from May 16-22.
Baltimore comes into the series in second place in the AL East with a record of 23-15. They have won seven of their last 10, and are 9-6 at home. The Padres sit in fourth place in the NL West at 16-21, 6.5 games out of first (through Sunday). They are 6-4 in their last 10, and have had a hard time of it away from Petco Park so far, with a 6-13 road mark.
Hitting
The Orioles' lineup features three of the best hitters in the American League right now in third-baseman Manny Machado, center-fielder Adam Jones, and first-baseman Chris Davis.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 12th, 2013 at 9:00 AM
By Wayne Staich
Evan Longoria sent the hometown fans home elated Saturday night, picking on a Huston Street slider and lining it over the left-center field wall with two outs in the ninth inning, giving the Tampa Bay Rays a wild, 8-7 victory over the San Diego Padres at Tropicana Field. It was the fourth straight win for the Rays, and second loss in a row for the Padres, who are now 16-20.
"It takes the team to be able to get you up to the plate in those opportunities, and fortunately enough I've been able to come through," Longoria said. "It doesn't get any better than being able to be in the moment and come through, so it feels good."
It's hard to understand how quickly the bottom of the ninth turned sour for Street and the Padres. Starting the inning with a 7-6 lead, Street easily retired the first two batters, and jumped ahead of the next hitter, Ben Zobrist, 1-2. Padre fans began to wait for the game-ending third strike that never came.
Zobrist hung tough and worked a walk…and Longoria worked a walk-off. Street suffered his first blown save of the season, and took the loss to fall to 0-2.
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